E UROPEAN C OMMISSION- DG R EGIO S ECRETARIAT G ENERAL OF THE R EGION OF C ENTRAL M ACEDONIA Regional Programme of Innovative Actions EXCELLENCE IN CENTRAL MACEDONIA • Final Report Period covered 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2004 THESSALONIKI, DECEMBER 2005 ERDF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS 2000-2006 Regional Programme of Innovative Actions Excellence in Central Macedonia Final Report covering the period 1st January 2002 to 31st December 2004 Contents 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 2. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROGRAMME VIS- À - VIS THE ORIGINAL PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION 6 2.1 Objectives 6 2.2 Duration 7 2.3 Partnership 7 2.4 Implementation of the strategy 11 2.5 Implementation of individual actions 12 Action 1 15 Action 2 18 Action 3 21 Action 4 24 Action 5 26 Action 6 31 Action 7 35 Action 8 40 Action 9 43 Action 10 45 2.6 Financial implementation and control 50 2.7 Monitoring and evaluation 51 2.8 Publicity 52 2.9 Financial Plan 55 3. I DENTIFICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF GOOD PRACTICES 57 4. C ASE STUDIES 57 REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS IN CENTRAL MACEDONIA 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The final report of the project “Excellence in Central Macedonia” covers the whole duration of the project, from 1st January 2002 to 31st December 2004. The main scope of the report is to provide information on the progress made and the results achieved, and to overview the practices put in place to establish and extend partnership. Excellence-in-Central Macedonia aimed to continue and renew the efforts to support the development of the Region based on knowledge and innovation, by introducing quite new elements into the regional innovation strategy shaped by RTP and RIS+ initiatives. The origin of the programme was to strengthen efforts towards the creation of a regional environment, which accelerates the introduction of businesses and regional intermediary organisations into the world of business intelligence, and to promote a knowledge-based competitive regional economy. In this framework, all ten Actions of “Excellence in Central Macedonia” fall under the thematic “regional economies based on knowledge and technological innovation”. The core of the programme strategy has been to support selected industrial clusters of the region to introduce and adapt innovation, and to enhance the outward performance of research institutions and technology transfer organisations, thus bridging the gap between production and research. With the end of the programme this strategy has successfully delivered: • completion of the 10 Actions according to the specifications set in the technical annexes • improvement of the innovation performance of the regional ICT cluster, involving companies in the innovation process • development of virtual tools supporting the operation and competitiveness of companies and clusters in the services sector (health services, hotels, layers, private schools) • demonstration of the efficiency of innovation management tools in business problem solving, though the implementation of technology clinics • establishment of the methodology for the award of regional business excellence prize • establishment of permanent institutions supporting innovation, such as the Innovation Observatory, the Digital Research Centre of Central Macedonia, • establishment of a permanent mechanism supporting regional exportation activity through the e-Partenariat digital application • diffusion of innovation management techniques (benchmarking, human resources management, quality certification, etc.) to the labour side, through training schemes at the virtual and the real space • development of a technology foresight exercise in Central Macedonia covering 8 critical fields for the region Excellence in Central Macedonia has been managed, at the technical and financial level, by the Regional Authorities of Central Macedonia. Evaluation/quality assurance has been performed by the Urban and Regional innovation research unit (URENIO) of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Competent authority in the Region Secretariat General of the Region of Central Macedonia Managing Body Management Authority for the ROP Central Macedonia Paying Body Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia Quality Assurance Unit-Evaluation URENIO research unit, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki EXCELLENCE IN CENTRAL MACEDONIA 3 Final Report: 1/1/2002 to 31/12/2004 REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS IN CENTRAL MACEDONIA The selection of the regional implementation agents and the assignment of the actions aligns with the cornerstones of the strategy: the creation of clusters, the support to the clusters, the improvement of the supply side, the diffusion of research results and the broadening of research institutions visions, the development of non-material structures – the observatory for long-term services and evaluation of innovative actions, the reinforcement of regional human resources, skills and capabilities. The initial duration of the project was 24 months, starting from the 1st January 2002 and ending on the 31st December 2003. However, the assignment of actions to the regional agents was delayed by eight months, from January to August 2002, mainly due to administrative reasons, which concerned the definition of the administrative framework for the operation of the project. A prolongation of the project duration was officially requested and approved by the Commission, setting the end date of the project the 31st December 2004. Contracts were signed by the end of August 2002 and covered all issues related to the objectives of the Actions, financial resources, budget, financial management rules, timetable, and contractual obligations. Indispensable part of each contract was the technical annex of the corresponding Action, where work packages, activities, expected deliverables, and budget were analysed. With the signing of the contracts, implementation agents committed to speed up efforts in order to cover the delay and accomplish the work foreseen within the initial time schedule (until the end of December 2003). However, this goal was not achieved and a twelve- months prolongation of the project was required and approved by the Commission, setting the end date of the project on the 31st December 2004. Eight actions started just after the signing of contracts, while actions 1 and 6 initiated later, in the beginning of 2003. Implementation agents established the monitoring team for the action, and proceeded to the implementation phases. During the evolution of the programme, major concern of both the action managers and the management team of the programme have been: • the establishment of business clusters and the broadening of existing clusters with the involvement of a significant number of participants, in order to multiply benefits • the development of digital applications which facilitate the activities of research institutions, consultants and intermediary organisations • the acknowledgement of actions to the beneficiaries • the organisation of appropriate promotion activities. In general, the evolution of the programme was satisfactory both in terms of progress made, taking into consideration the delayed start, and communication between the members of the partnership and the beneficiaries of each action. Budget accumulation almost reached the initial forecast: almost 4.448.000 euros have been absorbed on the project, in relation to the 4.500.000 euros foreseen. This is explicitly important provided that the private contribution has exceeded the initial plan by around 36.000 euros. Balanced partnership was major success factor for the project. For this reason, the Steering Committee was composed of representatives from a wide range of social activities: the academic community, technology transfer institutions, the entrepreneurs, exporters, labour organisations. Representation included also institutions and stakeholders of the region covering a wide range of scientific areas, both traditional and emerging technologies, manufacturing and service sectors, and human resources: food-beverages, computing and information technology, health and tourism services, transport logistics, business management, quality, international co- operation, training personnel. The meetings of the Steering Committee enabled the exchange of experiences regarding raising awareness of the target groups, best practices in the fields of EXCELLENCE IN CENTRAL MACEDONIA 4 Final Report: 1/1/2002 to 31/12/2004 REGIONAL PROGRAMME OF INNOVATIVE ACTIONS IN CENTRAL MACEDONIA innovation, practices to put in place in order to relate actions to each other, and multiply results and avoid overlapping. Raising awareness of regional agents was facilitated by the structure of the programme and the implementation agents, who exploited existing communication paths and facilitated the involvement of regional agents to the actions. Digital spaces have had a distinct and important role in the promotion of actions. Most implementation agents developed separate spaces in their web sites for the specific action, and thus, innovative actions in C. Macedonia are communicated to a wide audience, creating new challenges for further co-operations in the fields of innovation. The following sessions of the final report provide information on the management procedures, the financial management and the quality assurance system, the partnership, the implementation procedures, the results of the Actions, the publicity and dissemination activities, and the budget accumulation. EXCELLENCE IN CENTRAL MACEDONIA 5 Final Report: 1/1/2002 to 31/12/2004